Distribution 101: Set a Goal for Your Release

You are hopelessly lost without it.

Back when I helped run the IFP/Gotham Filmmaker Lab I would give a series of presentations under the moniker “Distribution 101”.  This is the first in a series of posts that will go under the heading of Distribution 101 on this Substack.  These posts will be an occasional series of guidelines and tips for creating and executing a distribution and marketing strategy.  Note: People have been asking me to update Think Outside the Box Office for years - and these posts in essence will serve as the basis for that. (Note that Ted Hope also has a series of posts advising on distribution - I feel that ours will complement each other. And Brian Newman also has some excellent posts that he calls Film 101.)

One of my mantras is: Every film and filmmaking team is different and hence every film needs its unique distribution and marketing strategy.   

To create this strategy - the first question I ask filmmakers: What is the goal of your release?  

Some of the responses I get are:  “A Netflix sale” or  “A theatrical release” or “Make the Oscar shortlist” or  “lots of film festivals”.  

None of these are goals. These are all tactics -  a means to an end - not an end in themselves.   A Netflix sale may represent a desire for money or audience.  Oscars, festivals, theatrical - usually indicate a desire for a career boost (acclaim/reviews).  

I find that filmmakers (even experienced filmmakers) haven’t thought about their distribution goals outside of a collection of tactics, and many have not even thought about what their goal might be outside of “distribution” which is usually a form of conventional distribution that rarely happens these days. 

For me, a goal for the release of your film can fit into one of these four categories: 

• MONEY

• CAREER

• CHANGE THE WORLD

• AUDIENCE

Filmmakers need to pick one of these as their guiding light.   

Nearly always I will hear “Why can’t I have all of these?”  Yes, it would be nice to have all of those. There are a few films every year (or maybe just one) that do achieve all or nearly all of these.  E.G. A big sale that also elevates the film team’s careers that becomes viral and also changes the world in some way.  The proverbial brass ring - one of the unfortunate dominant myths in our sector.

The reality is that in our current broken distribution system it is very difficult to achieve one of these goals, much less two or three. This is especially true considering that most independent filmmakers have limited resources with which to release their films Even studios and streamers are primarily going after one goal: money, with “career”/awards a consideration for some acquisitions/production (and usually they are not expecting money when they produce/acquire a film for awards-in fact they will often spend more on the awards campaign for a film than they ever hope to earn in revenue). 

This is not to say that many films while striving for a primary goal can’t also achieve secondary goals.  But keeping to one primary goal is the best way to ensure that you will achieve that goal and it also seems to help achieve the secondary goals as well.  However trying to achieve two goals equally will often torpedo both goals.

A little more clarification on the four goals: